Un Démocrate: Freud, propaganda and power at the Théâtre de la Concorde

From April 10 to 26, 2025, Un Démocrate, a play written and directed by Julie Timmerman, will be presented at the Théâtre de la Concorde . Created in 2016, the play traces the career ofEdward Bernays, a pioneer of public relations and a key figure in 20th-century media manipulation. On stage, Julie Timmerman will share the stage with Anne Cressent, Mathieu Desfemmes, Guillaume Fafiotte and Jean-Baptiste Verquin (alternating), for a theatrical fresco that is both historical and contemporary.

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A Democrat follows Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays, from the 1920s in New York, where he develops unprecedented techniques for manipulating the masses. Through his campaigns, he helped to sell soap as well as presidents, and to legitimize coups d'état - all in the name of American democracy. The story sheds light on how his methods influenced Nazi propaganda and, more broadly, 20th-century political communication. The story, told with a sense of humor described as ferocious, offers a critical insight into the origins of what is now known as the factory of consent.

Un Démocrate is aimed at adult audiences interested in the intersection of history, politics and communication. Audiences familiar with socially-aware documentaries or plays that combine pedagogy and satire, such as Chapitre XIII or L'Art de la guerre, might find a similar approach. The stage form blends humor, historical reconstruction and contemporary reflection, in a style described as epic by its creators. On the other hand, fans of purely fictional theater or intimate narratives may be less interested in this show, whose plot is resolutely didactic and rooted in a critical re-reading of the history of ideas.

Nine years after its creation, the play Un Démocrate continues to resonate strongly, particularly in a global context where issues of propaganda, algorithmic influence and information control are omnipresent. The link between the beginnings of public relations and the current excesses of Big Data would thus be at the heart of the proposed reflection. Director Julie Timmerman has been interested in ambiguous historical figures for several years, as demonstrated by her play Bananas (and Kings), dedicated to the history of Guatemala.

With Un Démocrate, Julie Timmerman proposes a lucid, documented fresco on the power of communication and its abuses, through the figure ofEdward Bernays. Part political theater, part critical biography, the show invites us to rethink the foundations of our modern democracies in a hyper-connected world.

This article is based on publicly available information. The show has not been viewed by our editorial team.

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